


I Watch It All From Afar, Heaven Help Me

by TinySpiney



Series: I See You [11]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Android Elijah Kamski, Android Hank Anderson, Angst and Tragedy, Gen, Human Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Human CyberLife Tower Connor | RK800-60 (Detroit: Become Human), Human Original Chloe | RT600, M/M, Role Reversal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:49:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24186169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TinySpiney/pseuds/TinySpiney
Summary: Title is from Campus by BastilleThis is gonna be one of the final parts to this story!! I do have a few more things in mind, but those will likely come after I finish up MISSION PENDING seeing as I'd like to give my undivided attention to ending this. I absolutely adore this story and I'm actually rather proud of the world-building I've been able to do. I want the ending to be something magnificent.
Relationships: Amanda & Gavin Reed, Connor & Gavin Reed, CyberLife Tower Connor | RK800-60/Gavin Reed, Elijah Kamski & Gavin Reed, Hank Anderson & Gavin Reed, Original Chloe | RT600 & Gavin Reed
Series: I See You [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1730275
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	I Watch It All From Afar, Heaven Help Me

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from Campus by Bastille
> 
> This is gonna be one of the final parts to this story!! I do have a few more things in mind, but those will likely come after I finish up MISSION PENDING seeing as I'd like to give my undivided attention to ending this. I absolutely adore this story and I'm actually rather proud of the world-building I've been able to do. I want the ending to be something magnificent.

_May 14th 2042 10:04 AM_

  
  


It wasn’t that hard for her to just...stop. It really wasn’t. But, apparently, Chloe Kamski believed she was above the law. Apparently just because she wasn’t charged with anything, she felt she was entitled to speaking with Gavin again. He didn’t want anything to do with her anymore. Hell, he didn’t want anything to do with her once he joined the police academy. Gavin sighed, running his hands down his face and groaning. He glared down at his phone almost as if that could make it take away the notifications from missed calls. Chloe didn’t even have a proper contact in his phone. It was just her phone number that showed up on his screen. Eighteen times. Basically as soon as it would have gone to voicemail, the damn thing would start buzzing again. Honestly, Gavin was about ready to throw it at the floor. Maybe it would stop then. But he just bought the phone last week, he could just turn it off. So, with an exasperated smile to Caleb when he asked what was happening, Gavin just turned his phone off. 

Then there was nothing. Sweet, blissful, _nothing._ For a while Gavin might have thanked some deity out there. He dove right back into his case files with Caleb. He was still the head of the Red Ice Task Force after all, he had a shitton of paperwork to do. Even if almost all of it was digital. Call him old fashioned, but Gavin could understand why the Anderson twins liked physical books. He kind of missed physical paperwork. But thanks to Hank they didn’t really have any. Well, Hank and Jackie. The only two androids who stayed behind to work at the DPD. They were cool, Jackie actually helped Gavin solve a crossword puzzle once. She was pretty neat. No, no he didn’t have the time to think about crosswords and just how old that made him sound. Gavin shook his head and chuckled to himself, stealing a few glances at Caleb before really going back to work. 

Some of the most recent Red Ice cases had been dead-ends. In both a literal and figurative sense. Not only did they keep finding bodies, but there just wasn’t enough evidence to lead to anything. Hell, Gavin even dragged Connor and Hank into the investigation. Connor didn't get to be a Lieutenant from just sitting around and solving wherever cases happened to drop into his lap. He took down a goddamn Red Ice ring mostly by himself. So his help was appreciated. Though Hank seemed disturbed by the crimes, which unnerved Gavin if he was being honest with himself. His LED was red the entire time he was at any of the crime scenes. It was never a good sign when his mood ring was stuck on red. Honestly, it was a fuck--

_Caleb’s phone started to ring._

Instead of actually looking at it, Gavin reached over and picked it up. He answered it harshly, starting to reprimand Chloe. But he stopped. It was a recording. It started with a crackle of static, and Chloe asking Elijah if he was recording. Gavin quickly excused himself and went into the break room. Connor and Hank were in there talking about whatever they were talking about. Gavin didn’t pay them any mind as he tapped his foot and listened for anything other than what sounded like machinery working. 

  
  


_“You are recording, right, Elijah?”_

_“Of course I am, Chloe.”_ A pause, then a soft sigh. _“You do realise that this might not work, don’t you?”_

_“I know it might not.”_ Shifting for fabric, the sound of a soft kiss, Chloe sighing. A small patting sound. Skin against...synthetic skin? Gavin didn’t understand. _“You’ll send this to Gavin if something goes wrong, won’t you?”_

_“Of course, Chloe. Though does it absolutely have to be from your phone? You know he doesn’t answer your calls anymore.”_ Damn right he didn’t. But what did she mean if something went wrong? _“Chloe, what will happen to me?”_

_“You’ll live on for me.”_ What the fuck. What the fuck did that mean. If something went wrong. _“Gavin, if you get this, something went wrong. I died. I’ve been working on this for a decade or two, and I’m excited to say it’s nearly complete! Though, unfortunately I don’t have a test subject. So it looks like I have to be the first one to try it! Wish me luck baby brother!”_

_“Chloe, if he gets this, you’ll be dead.”_ There was some sort of mechanical whirring. Something big and clunky was moving around, Elijah sounded terrified. _“I don’t want you to die.”_

_“No one wants any of their loved ones to die, Elijah.”_ Another soft kiss sound. Then Chloe’s voice got quieter despite the obvious strain, she was yelling over the machinery. What the hell was she doing? _“Just send this to Gavin if I die! He’ll understand I had to do it!”_

  
  


Gavin could hear the machinery rattle, he could hear blips of notifications in Elijah, he could hear a terrified scream. Gavin’s knees buckled beneath him. On the other end, in the recording, the mechanical whirring stopped, and there was the horrifyingly distinct sound of a body dropping to the floor. The sound of Elijah screaming. Footsteps. Fabric against fabric. Gavin was curled in on himself on the floor, Hank and Connor trying to get him to talk to them. The recording screeched with static, or maybe Elijah did. It cut out. The line went dead. 

_His sister was dead._

Gavin let the phone slip from his hand and clatter to the floor. Connor was shouting for Caleb, Tina and Chris rushed over. Hank tried to keep them at a distance. Gavin didn’t know who was holding him but he leaned into them. Warm. Whoever it was made him warm. It was nice. He grabbed at their shirt, trying to pull himself closer to them. He knew the fabric, he felt it earlier that morning, Caleb was holding him. Gavin closed his eyes. He didn’t know what was going on, he just wanted to be told it wasn’t real. Sure he absolutely hated Chloe, but that didn’t mean he wanted her dead. He didn’t consider her family, but he didn’t want to hear from a recording that she had to have been dead. It was conflicting. It felt wrong. She was his sister. But she took advantage of his brother on the day of his son’s funeral. She helped get him into the police academy. But started to go downhill soon after. They went to the clearing at Belle Isle together. But that wasn’t their place anymore. He hated her for what she did to Connor, to Elijah, to Hank. But part of him regretted not being kind to her, for pushing her away. But she was a bad person, she did bad things. She hurt people for her own benefit. She hurt people to run experiments. But...she was still there. Chloe was always there for him. 

Apparently they were taken in by Amanda when he was just a baby. A tiny four year old Chloe cradling her baby brother close to her chest and running through Detroit streets barefoot. Looking for someone who could help her and her baby brother escape. Amanda told the story time and time again when trying to get Gavin to smooth things over. Before she heard about what Chloe did to Connor at least. But the story. Of her finding a tiny little girl holding a baby to her chest, back when she was in her early twenties and just starting out as a beat cop. Of when the little girl saw her uniform and then started crying. How her heart broke as she listened to this little girl cry and explain that they were abandoned by their parents. How she gingerly took the baby from the little girl, and then held her hand. Bringing them into the DPD because she didn’t know what else to do and she needed to see if she could find these kids’ parents. 

Gavin lost count of how many times his mother had told him that story. He heard it so many times growing up, heard it so many times while at the DPD, heard it so many times while she tried to get him to reconcile with his sister. Chloe loved him. She always did, so many of the things she did was for him. But he never wanted them. He never wanted her to do things for him like that. Chloe took it upon herself to be another parent for him, she looked after him and cared for him like a parent would. She was only four years older than him. Gavin just loved her growing up. They would play dumb video games together, she would teach him about robotics. Sometimes he even went to her after a bad day at school and they would just lay in the grass in the backyard and talk about it. But as he grew up, the rose coloured lenses started to fade. He saw who she was. He saw how she acted. The way she butted her way into conversations, the way her hands moved when she spoke, the way her speech would quickly become disjointed when she spoke. But only if it were something she was into. Only if it was about androids. She’d get this manic look in her eyes and talk about her experiments. Skirting around the raunchy details, and focusing on the end result. Sometimes, when Gavin looked at Elijah, he wondered just how much the android remembered of his Beta Testing. Because from the tidbits of information he heard, he wished Elijah had no memory of them at all. 

Gavin wondered how much Elijah would remember from that. Probably all of it because he was an android. Technically he was always recording because his eyes had to work _somehow._ How would it affect him? How did trauma differ between humans and androids? Did it register as something else in their systems? Gavin had been around Hank enough to know that it sure as hell looked the same as when a human freaked out. Speaking of, Hank was talking to Caleb and Connor. He was talking about Gavin and his vitals. Damn tin can, always getting in people’s business. Always caring so goddamn much. It was kind of nice. Gavin didn’t know his father, and Amanda raised him and Chloe herself. His mother was going to be devastated. She may have disapproved of Chloe and her actions, but she didn’t completely disown her like Gavin did. 

  
  


“Chloe--” Gavin grabbed at Caleb’s shirt and twisted to look up at him. “Chloe had Elijah send me a recording.”

“Of what?” He always liked it when Caleb ran his fingers through his hair. It reminded him of when they first got together in the clearing. Gavin closed his eyes and leaned into the touch. “Gavin, what happened?”

“She’s, uhh-- Chloe pulled a _Chloe._ ” Gavin swallowed. He was terrified. Why was he terrified, it wasn’t like they were close after Cole’s death. Or even before then. “Tested something that was untested. She’s-- She’s dead.”

“What… What do you mean?”

“I mean I heard Elijah’s absolutely terrified screaming as I heard a fucking body fall to the floor!” Gavin scrubbed at his face as tears fell. Why was he crying, it wasn’t like they were close. “In the beginning of the recording, she told him to send it to me if she died! Then she fucking died!”

  
  


The room was silent, as was the bullpen beyond it. Not that Gavin didn’t blame anyone who heard him. He did kind of yell that his sister just kicked the bucket. 

  
  


\---

  
  


_May 23rd 2042 2:49 PM_

  
  


The service was small. Chloe wouldn’t have wanted it that way, but it was almost like the rest of the world was watching with how much news coverage was going around. Besides, Elijah was devastated. There was no way that Gavin was going to let reporters and press junkies get near him. Sure, he didn’t understand their relationship. Some undefined closeness that teetered between just indescribably close and something romantic. All he knew was that Hank said he was telling the truth when he said Chloe never did anything directly to him. That was enough for Gavin. He was worried about Elijah, living in the big house all by himself. He wasn’t going to change anything apparently. Keep it just the way Chloe left it. Gavin couldn’t help but wonder if Hank was going to do the same thing when Connor eventually kicked the bucket. 

He didn’t want to think about his brother dying. Gavin shook his head almost like it could take the thoughts away, and he started talking to people. There was only the family and a few friends. Elijah, Gavin, Amanda, Markus Manfred, Leo decided to accompany him, and Caleb was there for Gavin’s sake. Of course their mom was distraught. While she never approved of how Chloe did things, she still somehow found a way to love her. Even after hearing what she did to Connor. Though it was significantly more tense. Gavin didn’t want to think about it, he didn’t want to think about anything right now. At least this time he didn’t have to help make the funeral arrangements. Connor didn’t mean to spring it on him, he knew that, but it still fucking hurt to plan his own nephew’s funeral. He wondered if Leo was going to plan Markus’, if Hank was going to plan the brothers’ and maybe even his own. Morbid curiosity he supposed. 

As Gavin spoke to the few people who were attending the service, he realised just how withdrawn Chloe was. The only people outside of their family were Markus and his brother. Gavin was...hesitant to speak with them. The last time they spoke was at his wedding, which was a lovely event for everyone involved, but it still seemed… Almost inappropriate to talk to them like this. So, in true Gavin Reed fashion, he put it off. Instead opting to talk to Elijah and check in with him. The poor guy was a wreck. He was shaking, his LED was bright red, and he looked paler than usual. Which was saying something because boy fuckin’ howdy did Chloe make him pale. His synthetic skin was almost fading in and out, it kind of looked like water over sand. Which meant he wasn’t retaining thirium as he should have been. Which meant he was regularly overheating to the point where it thinned his thirium, causing some of it to evaporate. His skin projection was starting to suffer for it. Gavin wanted to talk to him about it. But it almost felt like it wasn’t his place. But Elijah was family. He decided to pull the shaking android into a hug, holding Elijah tightly as he stiffened before clutching at his shirt and crying into his shoulder. 

No one really spoke after that. Elijah was a loud crier it seemed. That was okay, he was hurting, he was in mourning. That was perfectly alright. Gavin didn’t say anything, he didn’t tell him it would be okay. Because he knew Elijah wouldn’t be okay. He had only known a life with Chloe by his side. This was going to crush him. Elijah was twenty-one now. Fuck, how morbid was that? Elijah turned twenty-one today. Gavin wanted to go home and curl up under his blankets with Caleb and the cat. Here he was, still alive and well on his birthday, and then there was Chloe’s body laying in a casket. Gavin had to hand it to Caleb’s dad though, he did a damn fine job of making her look just like she used to. It almost looked like she could just open her eyes and say it was a part of the experiment. That she faked her death and that was that. They’d all go home pissed at her. Elijah would get mad but ultimately say she was doing things in the name of science, then they’d go back to that big house and do whatever it was they did. 

  
  


“Gavin,” Markus wheeled up to him, putting a hand on his arm. The guy was just a year younger than Chloe. Talented artist who made the sculpt of Elijah’s face for Chloe to use. “I’d say I’m sorry for your loss, but I don’t think you’d want to hear that from me.”

“Ha, well, you’d be right.” He was surprised Markus was here at all. Last Gavin heard, they had cut ties after she did something to him. “Why’re you here, man? Didn’t you guys have a falling out or something?”

“Or something.” Markus frowned at the thought. Gavin didn’t want to know what it was. “The actual service is going to end soon, everyone has said their pieces. You should say something, Gavin. She was your sister.”

“M’only here because I have to be, same with my husband.” Gavin fiddled with the ring on his left hand and sighed. “I disowned her for a reason. I’m only here for Elijah and my mom.”

“Then say something about her for their sake.” Markus patted Gavin’s arm and smiled up at him. A knowing little thing. “Trust me, it’ll still make you feel better. I know we’re two different people, but it helped me when my dad passed. He wasn’t the nicest man but he still cared about me in some twisted way. Just like you and Chloe.”

  
  


Markus wheeled away, Leo quickly taking the handles of his chair and directing him toward the few other people around the casket. Maybe he was right. Maybe Gavin should say something for Elijah and his mom’s sake. He didn’t intend to speak in the first place, so he really wasn’t prepared. Time to hug the husband then. Gavin came up behind Caleb, giving him a small greeting before wrapping his arms around his waist from behind. Gavin liked being a few inches shorter than Caleb. It made it easier to hide his face in him. It also gave him time to think of something to say. Everyone likely thought he was actually letting himself get emotional and that was why he was hugging Caleb. 

It took a bit, but he finally came up with _something._ It was probably really shitty and kind of insensitive to Elijah and his mom. But fuck it, it was something. Markus was right, it would probably make him feel better. Gavin knew that he’d regret it if he never said anything at the service. So when his mom started talking, and he noticed that she was the last one to do so, Gavin wrung his hands together and let go of Caleb. He inched closer to her. Chloe looked like she was asleep, she looked like she was waiting for him to come close so she could spring up and surprise him. It filled him with some sort of heavy dread. Chloe was dead. He’d never hear her voice again, not really. He would be hearing all sorts of shit from the news and videos he would inevitably find online. But it would be tinny coming through the speakers. It wouldn’t be her voice. Despite it all, Gavin knew he was going to miss the good memories he had of her. He was going to miss the Chloe Kamski that was his loving big sister. Before he started to understand just what she was doing, how he was acting, who she really was. When his mom walked away from the casket, Gavin walked closer. He didn’t look at either of them. He didn’t look at his sister nor his mother. Gavin just turned to face the few people gathered, and he looked directly at Markus. Markus who smiled at him and nodded in an encouraging manner. 

  
  


“Hey guys, it’s, uhh, honestly surprising to even me that I’m talking right now.” Gavin gave an awkward laugh and readjusted his tie. “But Chloe is-- _was._ Chloe was honestly the best sister you could ask for growing up. Maybe because she could remember what it was that made her run away with me. But watching her while growing up was like watching the behind the scenes stuff for movies. The further you pull back the curtain, the more you wonder how the hell the actors kept a straight face, y’know? I, uhh, I saw her for the first time - like, _really_ saw her - when I just turned sixteen. She shoved some scientist she was working with, got all mean and nasty because Elijah was her pride and joy. God, that threat was so brutal, she’s lucky I wasn’t a detective yet.” Markus smiled and nodded to Gavin as he spoke. It made Gavin a little less tense. “But, uhh, fuck, anyway. My point is; she was great. Chloe was great. But she was also one of the meanest motherfuckers you’d ever meet. A blend of humanity I guess. I don’t know what I’m saying anymore-- Whatever, Chloe’s dead, let’s just...do whatever. Celebrate her life or some shit. I don’t fuckin’ know.” 

  
  


Gavin turned on his heel, scrubbing at his face as the tears started to fall. He made a beeline for Caleb, who took his hand and dragged him to the car. He half shoved Gavin in the passenger’s seat and then climbed in the driver’s seat. They were going home. Caleb promised they’d lay in bed with the cat. Promised they’d put on whatever mind-numbing television they could find, lay with the cats, and do absolutely nothing. Captain Allen could get fucked with a cactus, they weren’t going back to work for another couple days. Gavin was grateful for Caleb talking. He certainly wasn’t going to say anything. At least not until someone called him. Despite himself, Gavin almost wished he’d see Chloe’s number on the screen. Instead, he was just slightly let down when he saw Connor’s name. 

  
  


“What?” Gavin’s voice was raspy. Connor didn’t comment.

“Allen’s makin’ me and Hank go undercover for a Red Ice case, because apparently the suspects already know your face.” Connor sounded upset. Gavin didn’t know why. “We might be out for a year, Gav.”

“Oh.”

“You goin’ home now at least?”

“Caleb’s drivin’ us home, yeah.”

“Good,” Connor cleared his throat. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you, Gav. I care about you, you know that.”

“Yeah.”

“Can you tell Caleb we’re undercover for about a year? It’s short notice, otherwise you know I’d be there for you guys. Give you hugs and tell you I love you.”

“I’ll tell ‘im, Con.” Gavin let himself smile a little as he put his phone on speaker. “You could say you love us now, you know. I just put ya on speaker.” 

  
  


Gavin didn’t want to lose anyone else. But that was work. So he bit his tongue as the twins talked to each other and prayed to every deity he could think of that he wouldn’t lose his brother, too. 

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I would like to clarify that no, Leo didn't kill Carl when he shoved him. Markus is just referring to whenever Carl died. Likely from Red Ice if I can get my brain's gears working. I haven't thought much about Carl in this AU, lads.


End file.
